It is known that shell-shaped components in aerospace applications are always constructed and reinforced with strut and rib structures, or sandwich elements.
If such structures have been manufactured using a carbon fibre construction method, each reinforcing element is formed from a web material, cut to a size corresponding to the respective component, and then individually processed further with manufacturing equipment to yield the component.
In the past, this method led to the development of the braiding process, which in turn enables the creation of closed semi-finished tubular products. However, these semi-finished tubular products that are manufactured by braiding, and the reinforcing elements that are produced from them, do not allow design engineers any “design freedom”, they are expensive to make, and present handling difficulties during fabrication. The difficulty of ensuring that fibres are aligned to provide optimum load conditions represents a significant obstacle to the more widespread application of this technology.